Yesterday, my boys and I did a whirlwind tour of the beautiful yards of this year’s Inside Austin Gardens Tour. There was something special about each and every home, and we thank the homeowners for opening their yards to the community. Each yard was a certified wildlife habitat, and we even got to see some wildlife at a few of them!
We zoomed through so very fast due to our overbooked afternoon schedule. But even in our few minutes of touring, we found inspiration. From mixed yard/habitat homes to luscious looming tropics to sheer vastness in variety of plant species to pure folly, we saw it all.
As is typical of me, I was drawn to the use of native plants and whimsy in the garden, as you can see in these select photos. But without a doubt, I saw some very unique and beautiful plants at all the homes. I greatly appreciate the lists of plants available at every location! And there was such creativity in layout and design and decor.
These little glimpses don’t give much in the way of overview, I know. I regret that I’m posting so few pictures, but I encourage
you to visit Pam’s blog at Digging, MSS at Zanthan Gardens, Jenny at Rock Rose , and Linda at Patchwork Garden for exceptional details and photos of the tour (so many of our pictures are of the same plants and garden wows, and I shamelessly admit that I’m taking advantage of the fact that they beat me to the blogging punch). I’ve got so many projects looming over me at the moment, but if I don’t get something out, I’ll get nothing out, if that makes sense. Life just isn’t stopping still and letting me catch up! What’s up with that?
My daughter-in-law and I did the tour, too. Get ideas. We especially liked Cheryl’s garden…but they were all inspiring. I’d forgotten the skull in the birdbath.
Thanks for sharing.
Linda, I think I might have seen you there! I almost called out, “Hi, Linda” but I chickened out, for fear it wasn’t really you. The fact that we were in such a hurry was part of that, though — we had people meeting us at our house at a set time, so we really did zoom, zoom, zoom!
I just love these garden visits that take you behind the scenes. We are so lucky in the UK because we have an organisation that promotes more than 3,000 gardens countrywide – National Gardens Scheme – which open their doors on one or two days a year to raise funds for charity. Thanks for your peeks behind the scenes.
I love to look at the garden acoutrements of others. Whimsey in my garden has mostly been picked up because the dog loves to play with trinkets. Anything small enough to pick up, she takes: ceramics, glass, seashells, plastic flower pots, resin turtles, pieces of rusty tin; all are toys.
Your boys are handsome.
You got some really great photos of the Master Gardeners Tour. I thought I’d taken a lot of photos but I must have spent most of my time talking. I did feel that I had to rush through the gardens at a rate which didn’t allow me to really soak them all in. After seeing your photos, I want to go back and look at them all again. I’m glad you posted photos of the flower art on Cheryl’s fence and the skull fountain at Randy’s. And I see we both liked the bathtub pond at Lindy’s, too. It was a great tour!
I bet that bath got more photographs than anything else on the tour. I have to confess I missed that boot and Randy’s skull. even though i spent a lot of time going round each garden I didn’t see everything there was to see. I did see the caterpillar though. Last year I remember having those on my senna but I’ve forgotten what it is. Sulphur?
Yes, it’s a Clouded Sulphur, Jenny. I should have posted that!
Loved your photos. And you got the best one of Cheryl’s fence — the nice long shot that shows multiple painted flowers and also the scrolling handiwork on the top of her fence. I love that touch. Too bad we didn’t run into you, but as you said, it was a whirlwind day.
I’m surprised I didn’t see you and your boys, but I missed the morning due to family obligations and made the rounds in a whirlwind afternoon. I missed that skull birdbath at Randy’s–how?!
Oh, and thanks for the link!
What IS up with life not stopping or at least slowing way down to help me catch up? I appreciate your great virtual garden tour as I missed it in real life. I’m inspired to add a bit more whimsy/art to my back yard now, and this rainy day seems like a good one to create some (after I get caught up with current projects, of course…)
You may not have many photos but they captured fun details of the tour, Meredith… I also missed that skull at Randy’s – and think it had something to do with meeting other bloggers there!
Philo and I made it to all the gardens, too, in spite of a late start. We enjoyed the tour immensely – but boy, did some things look bad in our own yard when we got back home.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I love those fences! Nice that they provide a fun backdrop but you can still enjoy the plants. Love the caterpillar (eating the beans) also.
I like your photo of the fence flowers the best! You were far enough away to see the waves. Thank you for coming!